Sole for shoes



April 4, 1939- L. F. MONTGOMERY 2,152,657

SOLE F'OR SHOES Filed April 22, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. .Lza/v FMwVTGQME/PK ATTORNEYQS'Q April 4, 1939. .L. F. MONTGOMERY SOLE FOR SHOES Filed April 22, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 4, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SOIL-El FOR SHOES Ohio Application April 22, 1935, Serial No. 17,603

3 Claims.

My invention relates to composition soles for shoes which include treads of such nature as to resist wear and impart desirable qualities to the type of shoes employing such soles.

It is the object of my invention to provide for a composition shoe sole which has a tread consisting in part of strengthening and wear resisting fabric, the said tread being. incorporated by vulcanization of the sole. It is my object in conm nection with such a tread to provide against tendency of the toe of the shoe to curl upwardly as a consequence of wear of the shoe. It is also my object to provide against a line of weakness where the composition portion of 'the shoe sole joins the 15'; fabric reinforced tread, transversely of the sole.

It is also my object to provide for a. support for the metatarsal arch of the foot in connection with treads for composition shoe soles, by build-- ing rearwardly from the toe portion proper a thicker portion in the shoe sole at the forward end of the shank.

Among other things the nature of the tread portion of my sole is such that nailing or stitching operations thereon will tend to bind the reinforcements more strongly together in the tread, and will provide a stronger element through which to nail or through which to stitch, as well as a stronger and more wear resisting tread in all respects.

In combination with my tread I also provide a keyed on base portion for the sole which I so incorporate with the tread that the said base is keyed to the tread and. the tread to the base in. such a way as to make the sole stronger.

The above objects and advantages I accomplish by that certain construction and arrangemerit of parts of which a typical example will be illustrated in the drawings and. fully described in the following specification. The novelty inherent in structures of the type illustrated. and described will be set forth in the claims to which reference is hereby made.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a sectional view illustratinga method of constructing a laminated sheet of material from which I cut the tread member of. my im proved sole.

Figure 2 is a section through an alternative form of tape which may be used in constructing the tread.

Figure 3 is a plan view of an uncured sole.

Figure 4 is a plan View of my base portion.

Figure 5 is a plan view of an uncured rubber sheet to be interposed between the tread and base portion.

Figure 6 is a plan view of a completed tread member.

Figure 7 is a plan View of a rubber pad used to effect the thickened or arc-supporting portion of my sole.

Figure 8 is a section showing assembly of the parts before the vulcanizing and molding operation.

Figure 9 is a perspective illustrating the assembly of Fig. 8. 10

Figure 10 is a perspective showing the bottom of a finished sole.

Figure 11 is a perspective of the top or inner face of a finished sole. 7

Figure 12 is an enlarged section along the line 15 l2-|2 of Fig. 11.

I will describe my shoe sole by detailing a mode of manufacture-thereof, although this mode of manufacture may be departed from and although in certain features of the sole other features to be described are not required in order that the said certain features be employed.

In a preferred mode of manufacture I start with an uncured rubber sole of the shape desired in the final shoe. This is illustrated at I, in the drawings. In this sole shown in detail in Fig. 3,

I cut away a portion to leave a hole 2, extending throughout the toe portion, and thence backwardly in a tapering conformation into the shank portion, as illustrated at 3. The extension 3 may be modified to suit the wishes of the shoe manu-- facturer.

I provide as a base for the sole, preferably a rubberized fabric piece 4, which part is shown in Fig. 4 and is to constitute the inner face of the sole when the shoe is finished. This base is of such shape, preferably, that it extends beyond the hole in the rubber sole element so that when assembled and molded the base piece will extend beyond the tread portion, as illustrated at 5 in Fig. 8.

The assembly of the rubber sole portion and the base 4, may be constructed by placing the base down first and then placing the sole, with the hole cut in it on top of the base.

I have shown the base 4' as perforated with holes 6. These holes are distributed throughout the sole, and there will be a layer of rubber 'l thereon which lies between the base and the rubber sole portion. I

In making up the tread I proceed as follows: 1

In a form of desired shape in order to make as large a block of tread composition. as may be convenient, I arrange strips of fabric 9 say three quarters of an inch wide, and as long as the form is wide. As seen in Fig. 1, a starting piece l0 triangular in cross section with a presented angle of say around 45 degrees is set into one end of the form. The fabric strips will be of rubberized fabric. I also employ preferably, strips 9a of un cured rubber of the same length. The particular angle .may be varied considerably.

The fabric strips alternating with the rubber strips are then laid into the form, which will result in angularly disposed strips alternating with rubber layers, the upper edges of the strips being in one plane and the lower edges being in one plane. Any vertical line drawn through the form when assembled will pass through a considerable number of the strips.

If the fabric strips II may be obtained as shown in Fig. 2 with a coating of rubber Ila on each face, then it would not be necessary to use the interposed strips of rubber 9a when con-' structing the tread composition. Even rubberized fabric without any particular surface coating will serve my purpose although not so well. Of course my description above is a hand method but the product is one which could be made by machines which would deliver a strip of the completed assembly.

When the form is complete, a block of tread material will have been formed. Pieces are then out from it in the shape of the hole 2 in the rubber sole element. These pieces are illustrated at I2 in Fig. 6, and constitute the tread element of the sole.

I have noted that the base is arranged beneath the rubber sole element, with the layer of rubber 1 between them. I then place a piece 8, preferably'of rubber, in that portion 3 of the hole in the sole element which extends backward into the shank portion of the sole. I then place the tread piece l2 into the hole in the sole.

As thus assembled the sole is placed in a mold, the mold is closed and the sole duly cured and vulcanized under pressure of the mold sections in the usual manner.

The result is to completely vulcanize the several parts together. Referring to Figs. l0, l1 and '12, the tread will have layers of fabric 9 vulcanized together and vulcanized to the surrounding shoulder 2a of the hole. The base i will be forced down into the composition of the sole and will overlap the tread portion i2. Plugs or rivet like studs of composition I3 will be forced up into the holes 6 in the base piece keying it to' the sole 7 and keying it to the tread portion I2 of the sole by means of these plugs. The tread portion I2 will have upon it the impress of the mold, and by leaving a hollowed out portion in the mold where the tread portion projects over the shank of the shoe, at the metatarsal arch portion of the foot, I will leave a projection 55 of the tread at this portion, thicker than the rest of the sole at the toe and shank.

The fabric will lie in a position with the upper edges of the strips, as formed in the original form projecting rearwardly away from the toe of the shoe, so that the slant'of the fabric is downwardly and toward the heel in the final shoe.

The result of this angular arrangement will be that when the shoe is worn and the composition tends to extend at the sole portion, the extension will tend rather to keep the toe flat and to pull it downwardly, than to push it upwardly as is the case in any fabric reinforced tread rubber sole with which I am familiar. A curling toe is thus avoided.

When the foot is placed on the ground, the wearer of the shoe, if there is any tendency for the metatarsal arch to be flattened out, will find that there is a thicker portion in the sole at the point needing support, due to the projection I5. The normal foot will be given support at this point also.

There is no necessity of providing that the ends of the threads of the fabric be presented at the wear surface of the tread in my new sole,

because there is a thickness of fabric extending clear through the sole due to the overlapping relation of the fabric pieces.

In stitching the sole, or nailing it, in the manufacture of a shoe therefrom, any stitches or nails which pass through the tread portion will have to pass through a number of layers of fabric, and have no tendency to spread the layers apart as it would if the layers were vertically placed. This will result in tying the fabric together instead of separatingit, and will give a firmer foundation for nails and stitches.

I have now described mypreferred sole and its mode of manufacture. I also utilize the material constituting the tread as the entire sole of a shoe in the place of any other sole, or use it for the forepart of the sole of a shoe, with the remainder of composition or leather as may be desired, securing it to the shoe in the usual manner.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A shoe sole comprising a compositionv portion and a, reinforced tread portion, said reinforced, tread portion having layers of fabric embedded therein and extending transversely of the sole with their upper edges forwardly of the lower edges in the sole, whereby said layers slant rear-- wardly, said reinforced tread portion terminating toward the shank of the shoe in a medially dis posed tapered end, thereby avoiding a line of juncture transverselyof the sole between the reinforced tread portion and the composition portion, said tapered end portion of the reinforced tread being elevated in forming the sole, higher than the balance of the toe and shank portions, thereby forming an outside shank support.

2. A shoe sole comprising a composition portion and a reinforced tread portion, said reinforced tread portion comprising alternate layers of fabric and a vulcanizable material, said layers extending in planes transversely of the longitudinal axis of the sole and occupying positions in which their upper edges are tilted substantially forwardly of their lower edges, said reinforced tread portion terminating toward the shank of the shoe in a medially disposed tapered end, said tapered end being elevated in forming the sole higher than the balance of the toe and shank portions, thereby forming an outside shank support.

3. A shoe sole comprising a composition portion and a reinforced tread portion, said reinforced tread portion terminating toward the shank of the shoe in a medially disposed tapered end, said tapered end portion of the reinforced tread being elevated in forming the sole higher than the balance of the toe and shank portions, thereby forming an outside shank sup-port.

LEON F. MONTGOMERY. 

